Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda (B), Canada (B) (NB) (P), Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (NB), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB).
Vagrant to Brazil (NB), Cape Verde, France, Greenland, Portugal, Spain.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) [XC34797]
by Mike Nelson from Salton Sea, Imperial Co., California, United States (call)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) [XC620777]
by William Whitehead from Glorietta Bay Park, Coronado, San Diego County, California, United States (call)
Nest
A large bulky structure of sticks, in a tree, close to water. In colonies. Often with other heron species.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 6; pale blue. Incubation: about 28 days.
Young
Fed by both parents, by regurgitation.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) and Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi).
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
herodias Linnaeus, 1758 - Most of North America.
fannini Chapman, 1901 - Pacific Northwest from southern Alaska south to Washington.
wardi Ridgway, 1882 - Kansas and Oklahoma to northern Florida.
occidentalis Audubon, 1835 - Southern Florida, Caribbean islands (formerly Great White Heron).
cognata Bangs, 1903 - Galápagos Islands.
Similar Species
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) which is smaller, with a pale grey neck and lacks, Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) and Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), both of which are smaller, lack any white on the head, and lack yellow on the bill.
References
See References.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet